An award winning series of apps to help families learn Welsh is now inspiring the next generation of Cornish speakers get off to a flying start.

The National Lottery funded Magi Ann Welsh Language apps were launched in 2016 with the aim of helping young children and their families learn Welsh. These apps are now the inspiration behind a new Cornish equivalent launched this week.?The Cornish version goes by the same name as its Celtic cousin and contains 12 simple stories to help the next generation of Cornish speakers. This week’s unveiling in Truro forms part of the wider launch of ‘Go Cornish’ https://gocornish.org a new online resource from Golden Tree Productions for learning and teaching the Cornish language with cartoon character – Magi Ann.

The animated interactive apps allow parents to tap on a word to find out how to pronounce it, as well as displaying the English translation.

It was during the 2017 National Lottery Awards in London that the idea of creating a Cornish version of Magi Ann was forged. It was here that the winning team in the Education category from Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam met up with the victorious team from Cornwall behind the Man Engine which scooped up the UK’s Best Arts project at the ceremony.

Rhian Davies, Communications Officer for Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam, recalls: ‘During the Awards, we got to know the Man Engine’s creator Will Coleman and his team from Golden Tree Productions. We got on really well and Will explained that he spoke Cornish. After the Awards we were singing songs together in Cornish and Welsh and we realised we had a lot in common. That’s when the concept of creating a Kernewek (Cornish) Magi Ann app came into fruition.’?Will added: ‘It has been a pleasure working with the Magi Ann team to create the Cornish Magi Ann Kernewek app, for pre-school, nursery and family learning. We are very grateful to the National Lottery for making this relationship possible, and along with our new Go Cornish website (gocornish.org), this app is already inspiring the next generation of Cornish language learners.’

The Cornish and Welsh Magi Ann apps are available to download from the apple store and google play store